To all the employees I’ve let go before. Kidding. That’s quite an insensitive opener but let’s just say, there was a point in time, I felt it was necessary to have my team deliberate on a matter of grave importance. The dismissal of an employee. I wanted to evaluate feedback on their performance and assess what the moral would be like if they were no longer in the picture.

360 Peer Evaluation. It’s very tempting to do it only when you need it to either fire or get opinions of the team, but this will not work for very long. 


If you want to build a talent-centric company, you need to show them that you actually care for their well being, not just a method to get excuses to fire someone.


Because after a few times, your employees will realize after every review their friends got into trouble.


How would that affect the answers they give you? 

In most cases, it’s best to diversify the use of a 360 Degree Peer Evaluation form. Want to plan a company trip? Wondering how people react to options or have their own opinions? Pull out the 360 feedback from. 

When prepping the forms and making the questions, try vetting them for confirmation biases. They should be in a descriptive yet neutral tone. You cannot UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE allude to a preference. 

When it came to tools, we used a simple google form to create the ideal form. There are paid solutions that work well for a larger team. However, if you want to keep things simple, you can stick to Google forms. 

360 Peer Evaluation

What were the lessons we learned from repeated 360 feedback forms? 

Firstly, get the concept right from the get-go. You need to ask within a specific ambit. For example, it’s a bad idea to ask about performance while you’re taking opinions for a good restaurant to celebrate your corporate anniversary.

Secondly, be cautious about naming staff members or isolating specific people for a group discussion on performance and integration. You can trigger feelings of job insecurity and make them filter all feedback with a positive or neutral lens. 

Lastly, its a form not a magic bullet. All it does is gather information and produce statistical data. You need to analyse the data for trends without introducing your own biases as a criterion. Always strive to remain objective.